The Carolina Panthers offense clicked against the Atlanta Falcons for perhaps the first time since they faced the Patriots in New England.

Christian McCaffrey had as much of a breakout game as he has had this year, with 48 yards on the ground to pair with a score.

Here’s our instant analysis for Carolina’s 20-17 win over Atlanta.

Offense

The Panthers offense finally ran the ball well, with over 200 rushing yards in the game. Jonathan Stewart still struggled with 1.9 yards per carry, but Cam Newton (nine carries 86 yards)and McCaffrey (15 carries 66 yards) both excelled against the Falcons.

The offense shot itself in the foot to start the game when Stewart fumbled the ball two drives in a row, but overall it was able to put its wheels back on track. The offensive line kept Newton upright in the pocket, allowing only two sacks; it also did better in allowing backs to run than it had the last several games.

Rookie wide receiver Curtis Samuel showed more flashes with the ball in his hand than he has the entire season, making multiple guys miss on his three catches, despite only sporting 23 yards.

Mike Shula’s play-calling was a welcome breathe of fresh air, and the lack of Kelvin Benjamin being shoe-horned onto the field allowed multiple receivers to move about all three receiver spots.

Defense

The defense gave up more yardage to Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense than all but two of their games this season, but still played well while doing it. The Carolina safeties were flying around the field, making tackles behind the line of scrimmage multiple times. The defensive line showed up in stopping the run, stopping multiple short third-down and fourth down rushing attempts.

The secondary was able to keep Julio Jones from having a massive game, holding him touchdown-less to go along with his 118-yards receiving, although it’s worth noting he dropped an uncontested pass in the end zone.

The defensive line, despite only making two sacks on the game, harassed Matt Ryan for the better part of the day. On multiple occasions, Ryan found himself scrambling to escape defenders like Kawann Short and Julius Peppers.

Overall, it was a good effort by the defense. The unit was able to stop a last-minute comeback attempt by Ryan and co., holding them to negative three yards on their comeback attempt.

Special teams

Choosing punter Michael Palardy over veteran Andy Lee may have been the greatest decision the franchise has made this year. The young punter averaged 49.8 yards on five punts, with three within the 20, and two within the 10.